The average apartment rent across the Bayou City inched up just 1.3 percent year over year to $981 per month (average), according toTranswestern’s2016 Houston Trendlines report.

Apartment developers and operators areoffering between two and three months of free rentto entice renters to live in new Class A luxury apartment projects, which were planned when oil prices were above $100 a barrel and Houston was creating more than 100,000 new jobs a year.

The biggest draw of thedowntown Houstonarea is proximity to jobs. Houston is America’s fourth largest city, and sprawls in every direction. Dozens of large companies, including Chevron and Shell, are located downtown, and living nearby eliminates an exasperating commute on the city’s frequently crowded highways. This being said, there’s a healthy contingent of people moving downtown for the lifestyle who work in employment clusters elsewhere, with the knowledge that their commute will be in the opposite direction of most others’ and therefore a whole lot quicker.

NerdWallet released a new study in early October that lists
the Best Places for Young Families in Texas. NerdWallet used the following
factors for this study: public school excellence, home affordability (Includes apartment
rent affordability) , growth and prosperity.Data was reviewed for 111 places
in Texas; only cities with a population over 25,000 residents were analyzed. Three
Bay Area cities were listed in the Top 15, showing that younger families are
settling in smaller cities. Friendswood rated as #2;

Generally, developers painted a more upbeat picture of Houston’s multifamily market while economists delivered sobering statistics and forecasts for 2016. Here is how Houston’s apartment market is faring, from the view of economists and developers:

"Apartments" have changed - they are no longer the standard garden style apartment for rent with a pool, and a small gym, if you were really lucky! There is a new standard of construction - not just to attract the young professional apartment dweller but to attract anyone that's concerned about our environment, or being health conscious, or that wants to entertain their friends without leaving the apartment and having to go out to a restaurant or entertainment venue!